“It’s called an elevator,” Avian said quietly behind me.
The elevator made a dinging sound and its doors slid open again, revealing a different scene. A hallway stretched out before us, buzzing with the hum of electric devices behind closed doors. More bright lights filled the space.
We walked where the man told us to, stopping at a door midway down the hall. The man knocked, listening.
“Come in,” a voice called.
There were four people inside, gathered around a large desk, looking over some papers. A man with well-trimmed gray hair and a beard straightened. I assumed this was Royce.
“I found them on patrol,” the man behind us said. “They said they found one of our signs and came to take a look.”
“Are there more of you?” the man asked, his gray eyes showing hints of excitement that had given away the rest of them.
Avian nodded his head. “There are sixteen more of us waiting outside the city. The other half of our group is at our old camp. About 800 miles away.”
The man’s eyes widened. “You’ve traveled a long ways to reach us. How was the journey?”
“We made it,” Avian said simply.
“Forgive our unfriendly welcome,” he said as he walked around the table, his arms folded over his chest. “I’m sure you understand the precautions we have to take these days.”
“Of course,” Avian said. I heard the anxiety that was creeping into his voice.
“Come with me please,” Royce said as he stepped around us and out of the room. We followed silently.
Just looking at Royce, one would think he was a leader. His stature was tall and confident. His shoulders were sure, his gait unfaltering. He looked like a man who knew what he was doing, all the time.
Royce led us down the hall and into a room that had no windows and was totally empty of anything other than a leather case. He opened it up as we stepped inside. Others followed us in. I didn’t miss the weapons in their belts, in their pockets, and obviously in their hands. And I was very aware of the fact that they had closed the door behind us.
It looked different than ours but it was unmistakably a CDU. As if on cue, West, Avian, and Tuck adjusted their stances so they were standing just in front of me.
“This shouldn’t hurt gentlemen, and lady,” he said with a tight-lipped smile as he charged it up. The center of it glowed a brilliant blue. “Just a small shock.”
Avian stepped up first, pulling the sleeve of his shirt up and offering his arm. His arm twitched as the device was pressed to his arm. West went next, followed by Tuck.
“Thank you, gentlemen,” Royce said, giving them that same tight-lipped, fake looking smile. “My lady.”
The three of them tightened around me. As they did, Royce’s eyes hardened and he stopped in his tracks. “You know all newcomers must be tested. She is no exception.”
“She is,” West said quietly.
“She’s different,” Avian said, trying to keep his voice calm sounding.
As if their words had opened up a book on their faces, Royce’s eyes widened and he took a step back, drawing a handgun out from the belt of his pants. As he did, the rest of the people in the room drew their weapons as well.
“Hold on!” Avian shouted as he backed further into me, holding his hands up toward our captors. “She’s not Fallen! But she has cybernetic parts in her. She’s different from them.”
“They’re all the same!” Royce shouted as he aimed his gun at my head. “She’s a danger being here. My scouts should have shot her before she came within a hundred feet of this building.”
“She can’t be infected!” West shouted at the man. “She was experimented on. My grandfather was Dr. Evans. She was his experiment before the infection was developed.”
“Dr. Evans?” Royce spat out. “That heartless scum bag created the infection. He wouldn’t have bothered with a hybrid. In his quest for savior status he destroyed the world.”
“Yes he did, but I assure you he was my grandfather. My father Fell early on and someone set Eve free after everything happened. She’s human but he did things to her. You can’t test her or it will kill her,” West’s voice sounded pleading.
“They are all the same!” Royce shouted as he thrust his gun in our direction again. “I don’t know how she’s tricked you into thinking differently but it’s a miracle she hasn’t infected you yet.”
At the same time, both Avian and West turned and each took one of my hands.
“She doesn’t carry the infection,” Avian said, his voice serious and low. “She’s been with me for the last five years and she’s never turned against us. She’s done nothing but protect us.”
The door at our backs suddenly opened and a very tanned looking face with jet-black hair popped in. I had to do a double take. I almost wondered if I had seen him before but brushed that off.
“What is all the shouting about?” he asked, his voice sounding slightly alarmed.
“She’s one of them,” Royce said, his voice cold. “They’re claiming she’s different.”
The new man’s eyes jumped to my face and his eyes narrowed at me. “Eve?”
“How do you know my name?” I spoke for the first time since we had been brought in.
“It’s really you,” he breathed as he stepped inside. “You survived.”
“Dr. Beeson?” West asked with uncertainty in his voice.
“You were the one who took over my observation,” I said as the name echoed in my memory from the notebook.
He nodded, his eyes still wide.
“So, you’re saying they’re telling the truth, Erik?” Royce demanded.
“She is different, yes,” he said as his eyes glanced over at Royce. “She had a chip implanted into her brain that enhanced her. She was a preliminary experiment that lead up to the infection. If you use that on her, it will kill her,” he said as he indicated the CDU Royce still had clutched in his hand. “I cannot confirm though what she is capable of.”
“She’s fine,” Avian said through clenched teeth.
“If I turn on you, you can shoot me yourself,” I said to Royce with hard eyes. “I promise you that won’t happen though.”
He looked at me long and hard, distrust written all over his face. I didn’t blame him, I would have been the same way. I thought then, that under less critical circumstances, we might have gotten along very well.
“Remove her weapons from her,” Royce said. “I won’t have you walking around here armed like that.”
I saw West’s eyes flash to my face in momentary panic. I shook my head at him. I didn’t like it either but I also didn’t see any other way to get through this. Their men relieved me of my weapons. When one of them reached for my pack, I grabbed his wrist, shaking my head at him. His eyes grew wide and he withdrew his hand, backing away across the room. I almost smiled.
“You’re sure she’s different, Erik?” Royce asked again, his eyes narrowed.
“Quite,” he said as he opened the door and held it open for everyone.
Royce finally lowered his weapon. As he did, the rest of his men followed suit. “Forgive me if I’m not exactly welcoming,” he said as his face softened, though his eyes were still cold on me. “I’m not so keen on the reliability of a human-cybernetic hybrid I’ve never heard of.”
“I wasn’t so keen on the idea myself when I first found out what I was,” I said back, never loosing eye contact.
Everyone else in the room probably missed it, but my enhanced eyes caught the twitch in his cheek as a smile was fought back.
“Well gentlemen,” Royce said as he started for the door. “And lady. Welcome to Los Angeles. This is our Sanctuary in the middle of hell on Earth.”
We followed him back out into the hall and Dr. Beeson broke off from the rest of us. “Our offices are on this level, as well as several of our labs,” Royce said as he indicated the doors down this hall. We followed him back where we had come from and reentered the elevator. My stomach felt strange as we started to descend. The door opened to a different level, this one bustling with people, opening up into a big lobby.